BOULDER — After almost 32 minutes of in-your-face intensity, which followed almost 365 days of listening to naysayers point out the reasons why it would be impossible for her team to win a championship, the final seconds of Friday night’s girls Class 4A basketball title game was almost too much for Broomfield’s Tyana Medema to deal with.
“I was about to pass out,” the junior said. “There were people screaming, people crying. It was all just so amazing, it kind of got the best of me.”
Within moments, however, the final horn sounded on a 55-47 triumph over Longmont at CU’s Coors Events Center that provided the most telling number of all for the Eagles — four straight championships.
“A lot of people didn’t think this team could do this,” Broomfield coach Mike Croell said. “You lose the players we did, and it’s understandable that some people would think things would dry up for us. But these girls couldn’t wait for the season to start. They had to wait for their turn, but once they got it, you saw what happened.”
One of basketball’s oldest adages is a simple one — you can’t teach height. And in many ways, that was the story of the night. The Eagles’ overwhelming length manifested itself throughout the game, be it in the numerous layups and free throws that came as a result of their consistently pushing the ball inside, or the 29 turnovers they forced with their trapping defense.
“That was the ballgame,” Trojans coach Jay Darien said. “We needed to keep it at about 10 to 15 turnovers. It’s championship night; you turn it over 30 times, you’re not gonna win.”
That’s not to say that Longmont (24-3) didn’t have its moments. The Northern Conference team actually took a 23-12 advantage late in the second quarter. At that point, Darien said, “life was good” — the coach even admitting he was wondering how the Eagles would handle such adversity.
The answer came in the form of a 12-0 run to end the half, which was actually a precursor to an even more telling test of Broomfield’s fortitude.
Despite their troubles keeping the ball in play, the Trojans were able to keep hanging around, and, when Eagles center Bre Burgesser collected her fifth foul — along with a technical foul for an elbow — with 2:35 remaining, three free throws and a jumper by Jordan Arguello on the ensuing possession actually put the Trojans ahead 47-46.
But as was the case in the first half, Broomfield regained control, scoring the final nine points of the game in a fitting coda to a year in which the loss of program stalwarts such as Anna Prins was overcome by willpower and hard work.
“We didn’t have a 6-foot-6 superstar and other D-I players this year like we had before,” guard Autumn Chase said. “This year was more challenging than last season and was pretty nerve-wracking, but we just worked so hard.”
Longmont 12 11 13 11 — 47 Broomfield10 14 12 19 — 55
Longmont — Carpenter 5 3-4 13, Katuna 1 4-4 12, Kingsbury 0 0-0 9, Van Thuyne 0 0-0 0, Meier 0 0-0 0, Arguello 1 1-2 3, Haddock 2 6-7 10, Thornholt 0 0-0 0, Canar 0 0-0 0, Chandler 0 0-0 0, Carney 0 0-0 0, Fallon 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 14-17 47.
Broomfield — Chase 2 1-2 6, Hix 3 3-4 9, Waters 5 3-6 13, Burgesser 4 4-6 12, Medema 1 4-7 6, Nehf 2 3-6 7, Zec 0 2-2 2, Prins 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 20-33 55.
3-pt. goals: Kingsbury 3, Katuna 2; Chase. Fouled out — Carpenter, Burgesser. Technicals — Meier, Burgesser.
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
